House Ag urges Budget Committee to avoid cuts to its programs
February 12, 2015 |12:19 PM
The House Agriculture Committee today approved a letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., that urges the Budget Committee to consider the savings that already occurred under its programs, and not to make additional cuts under any reconciliation measure.
The letter was approved unanimously by voice vote.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, a vigorous proponent of cutting the federal deficit, had previously told reporters that he hoped the Budget Committee would give him an amount to cut, and leave the decisions on what to cut up to the committee. Today, Conaway said that “farm country is facing some troubled economic conditions and regulatory burdens, and trade and tax uncertainties are only making the situation worse.”
These factors should be taken into consideration when the Budget Committee is “determining from which congressional committees and mission areas any future budget savings should come,” the letter stated. It also says that farmers now have to add “an unpredictable Washington and media ridicule” to their other challenges.
The letter notes that the 2014 farm bill produced savings and that spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the biggest program at the Agriculture Department — is also decreasing. The letter promises that the committee will undertake a “top-to-bottom review” of SNAP.
The letter concludes that the Agriculture Committee “has done its duty for now” and that “the other 98 percent of the federal budget ought to be looked to first for any additional savings being sought this Congress.”
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., noted in opening remarks at the meeting that the administration has already proposed cuts to the crop insurance program and that he anticipates, “given what we have seen in the past, that the Republican budget will also propose similar cuts.”
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has also said she will oppose cuts to agriculture from her position on the Senate Budget Committee. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has also emphasized in recent statements that savings were achieved in the farm bill.
▪ Letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price from House Agriculture Committee
The letter was approved unanimously by voice vote.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, a vigorous proponent of cutting the federal deficit, had previously told reporters that he hoped the Budget Committee would give him an amount to cut, and leave the decisions on what to cut up to the committee. Today, Conaway said that “farm country is facing some troubled economic conditions and regulatory burdens, and trade and tax uncertainties are only making the situation worse.”
These factors should be taken into consideration when the Budget Committee is “determining from which congressional committees and mission areas any future budget savings should come,” the letter stated. It also says that farmers now have to add “an unpredictable Washington and media ridicule” to their other challenges.
The letter notes that the 2014 farm bill produced savings and that spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the biggest program at the Agriculture Department — is also decreasing. The letter promises that the committee will undertake a “top-to-bottom review” of SNAP.
The letter concludes that the Agriculture Committee “has done its duty for now” and that “the other 98 percent of the federal budget ought to be looked to first for any additional savings being sought this Congress.”
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., noted in opening remarks at the meeting that the administration has already proposed cuts to the crop insurance program and that he anticipates, “given what we have seen in the past, that the Republican budget will also propose similar cuts.”
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has also said she will oppose cuts to agriculture from her position on the Senate Budget Committee. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has also emphasized in recent statements that savings were achieved in the farm bill.
▪ Letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price from House Agriculture Committee
